Electrically powered vehicles are well known in the art. They are, for example, commonly employed in conventional underground mining operations. The electrical power for such vehicles is almost universally provided by means of storage batteries. In many situations, a storage battery is mounted directly to and carried by the vehicle which receives the electrical power from the battery.
After a period of use, the battery on the vehicle becomes drained of energy and must be replaced with a charged battery. This requires the switching of a spent battery for a charged battery at a designated battery changing station. As the batteries include many cells to store and furnish the power required to drive the vehicle, they are bulky, cumbersome and heavy, thereby making efficient and effective battery handling a difficult proposition.
Many battery changers have been developed for this exclusive purpose. Several examples of battery changers are disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,799,063 to Reed; 3,834,563 to Teti; 5,275,525 to Grumblatt; and 5,305,513 to Lucid et al. While all these prior art battery changing devices effectively function for their intended purpose, further improvements in the ease, efficiency, reliability and flexibility of operation are desired.